Nicole Gardiner

Nicole Gardiner

Passion into career

Bachelor of Forensic Science/ Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice

When Nicole Gardiner was 10, she would sneak out of her room to watch the criminal forensic television program CSI without her parents knowing.

This sparked a passion for forensics that led her to Griffith University and into her dream job as a forensic biologist with the Northern Territory Police Fire and Emergency Service.

Today Nicole is proud to say she’s almost a real life "crime scene investigator" just like her favourite television program.

Her day-to-day duties working in the Forensic Biology Laboratory include examining crime scene exhibits and processing DNA, but there are more exciting things to come as her career progresses.

"I can be doing anything from screening a crime scene exhibit, or a swab, or a t-shirt through to extracting DNA, quantifying it, amplifying it and putting it through a process of capillary electrophoresis to produce a DNA profile," she said.

"I guess it is similar to CSI, but in real life it is not as glamorous as it looks on television.

"I took advantage of services that Griffith offered for future employment and went to as many seminars as I could. I was even willing to move to the Northern Territory to gain valuable experience in my chosen field.

"You need to be dedicated and passionate about the industry and helping people because some of the things you come across in this field can be difficult to observe, such as the more serious crimes."

Share your story

Have a remarkable story to tell? We’d love to hear about your brilliant career.